


Trapped

by cordeliadelayne



Category: Primeval
Genre: Gen, Jenny's a good friend, Talking is good for you, Trapped Through an Anomaly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-24
Updated: 2016-02-24
Packaged: 2018-05-22 12:34:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6079515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cordeliadelayne/pseuds/cordeliadelayne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick and Jenny find plenty of time to talk whilst trapped in the past.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trapped

**Author's Note:**

  * For [reggietate](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=reggietate).



> Written for the lovely reggietate, who gave the prompt “dinosaur egg”.

“If you’re about to suggest I hatch it,” Jenny began, with some asperity, “I shall take great pleasure in shoving it where the sun doesn't shine.”

Cutter would have taken a step backwards, if there had been room to do so.

“It never occurred to me.”

Jenny caught his expression in the torchlight and immediately regretted her outburst. It wasn't Cutter's fault the soldiers had spent the last two days making every egg-related pun known to man, and then some. It also wasn't Cutter's fault that they were both now stuck in a cave with a nest of dinosaur eggs.

“Where are we?” she asked, a little more calmly.

“Early Cretaceous, at a guess,” Cutter replied. He was still looking at her as if he expected her to explode at any moment.

“So Stephen was right? About the tracks?”

“Looks like it. I'd say we're dealing with a Hypsilophodon. Good news is it was probably a herbivore and relatively small. Bad news is I have no idea how it might react to a couple of humans near its eggs.”

Jenny sighed. “Well, that's something.”

She moved from foot to foot and tried to straighten her neck, without much success. She and Cutter had been inspecting the back of a cave in their time after Ryan's men had already done a sweep, only to literally walk through an anomaly without having seen it. It had brought them to the back of a cave with a low ceiling and a nest of eggs in front of them, with very little room to manoeuvre. It was a miracle they hadn't trampled any eggs when they'd arrived.

“It must only stay open for a very short period of time,” Cutter surmised. “I can't imagine even that motley bunch of the country's finest would have missed an anomaly if it was right under their nose.”

Ordinarily Jenny would have reminded Cutter of the importance of good relations between the soldiers and the civilians on the team, but since these were all fresh out of Sandhurst and less than impressed with their current posting, she was finding it particularly hard to care.

“Do you think the other eggs we found...rolled there, from here?”

Cutter shrugged. “Possible. Or the mother, or mother's, headed through the anomaly and laid their eggs in our time. That would explain the tracks Stephen found.” He rolled his neck, trying to relieve some of the pressure of standing at an angle.

“At least we know why it took so long to find an anomaly,” Jenny pointed out. “Opening and closing so quickly, it must be almost impossible for the ADD to catch.”

“Remind me to see if we can do something about that when we get back. Goodness knows how many creatures might be slipping through undetected.”

“I wouldn't open with that when you brief Lester.”

Cutter snorted and they shared as much of a grin as their torchlight would let them.

“Have you got your keys on you?” Cutter asked after a moment. “I gave mine to Stephen.”

Jenny patted at her coat pocket to make sure. “Yes, why?”

“Best keep them handy, then. We probably won't have much notice when the anomaly reopens. We may need to move quick.”

Jenny nodded. She almost opened her mouth to tell Cutter that she dreamed about it sometimes – what would happen to a person stepping through an anomaly at the moment it closed. She decided, on reflection, that he didn’t need to hear she was only human after all.

“Did you and Helen ever want any?” Jenny asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

“What, eggs?” Cutter asked. “Only at weekends, usually. Nothing like a good fry up to start your day.”

“Sorry, I shouldn't have asked. It's none of my business.”

Cutter shook his head. “No, I'm sorry. Sarcasm was uncalled for. We discussed it, like adults. We both agreed to focus on our careers.” Cutter's wistful look belied a very different conversation, but Jenny knew better than to push. “Are you, are you and your fiancé planning...?”

“His mother would like me to have at least three,” Jenny said. “I'm not sure but, yes, I think I would like children. Not for a little while yet though.” She tried to make her voice sound light hearted and unconcerned. “I'm getting in plenty of practice with this job though. At least you and Stephen are behaving yourselves.”

“Aye, well, we have to work together, don't we?”

Jenny didn’t say anything for a long time but then decided that Cutter and Stephen had both become her friends.

“He quit, actually. Last week. Lester's making him work out the month.”

Cutter went very still. Jenny was about to try and reach out to him, when he grabbed her arm very tightly and motioned for her to stay still with his other hand. Only then did she realise that they were no longer alone. One of the eggs had hatched.

“Its mother can't be far,” Cutter whispered.

“What do we do?”

“I have no idea. But I do know we shouldn't touch the baby. Try and move back a bit more if you can.”

Jenny could see the sense in that, even if it meant squeezing into the far reaches of the cave, pressed up against Cutter's back. She was grateful at least that it wasn't the other way around.

There was a sound outside the cave and Jenny found herself holding her breath. If attacked they'd have to defend themselves, but she had no desire to hurt a mother trying to protect her children.

The sound started to grow louder and at the same moment she realised it was traffic noise, the keys in her hand started to pull away. She didn't even give Cutter any warning before she was pushing him through the anomaly.

They arrived on the other side of the quickly closed anomaly in a tangle of bruised limbs.

“Did you have an eggcellent adventure?” Connor asked as he helped them up.

Jenny took a deep breath. “Yes, thank you, Connor.”

Abby pulled him away before he could ask any further questions, or make any more puns.

“Are you all right?” Cutter asked her.

“Just glad I put on trousers this morning,” she replied. She leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek. He blinked back at her, clearly startled.

“What was that for?”

Jenny shrugged. “Call it a good luck charm. From one friend to another.”

Cutter didn't bother asking what he needed luck for, having spotted Stephen the same moment she did. After a quick nod in her direction, Cutter strode over to Stephen.

Jenny watched as they started to talk, probably for the first time in months. Then, she looked around her, at the chaos that normally ensued on an Anomaly shout. A year ago she hadn't even known the project existed and now she couldn't bear the idea of being somewhere else.

Even if it meant she occasionally got trapped in the past with thoroughly unsuitable men.

And had to find a home for half a dozen dinosaur eggs.


End file.
